Nearly five months after a chemical fire at BioLab’s Conyers facility forced 17,000 residents to evacuate, the company remains partially closed with no set timeline for reopening.
BioLab says it has continued to pay employees since the Sept. 29 fire, but with manufacturing operations still shut down, the company is now offering voluntary severance packages for those who choose to leave. Others are being reassigned to roles at the company’s distribution center or other locations.
In a statement to GPB, a BioLab spokesperson said, “Recognizing this situation has created uncertainty for many of our Conyers team members, we have offered eligible employees voluntary separation packages. This is an entirely voluntary program to enable those who wish to pursue new opportunities to do so with financial support.”
The fire led to shelter-in-place orders for nearly 90,000 people in Rockdale County.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the incident.
“While we continue to fully cooperate with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s ongoing investigation, we do not currently have a timeframe for potential reopening of our manufacturing operations,” the BioLab statement went on to say.
BioLab is the eighth-largest employer in Rockdale County. Local officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the potential economic impact of BioLab’s ongoing closure.
